Chapter 42: CHAPTER 42:The Third Trip of the Frog Cub, System Upgrade
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The next day.
Before the morning sun rose, Su Li was awakened by the croaking of frogs.
He opened his hazy eyes and saw the frog cub squatting before him, mouth open wide like it had just returned from a battlefield.
Su Li was startled, then immediately sat up, rubbed his eyes, and opened the system panel.
"So today's the day the frog cub returns… I forgot to check last time."
A trace of surprise crossed his face, quickly replaced by delight.
His mind snapped awake.
After a quick wash, he took the frog cub to the courtyard.
To save himself from digging up worms every time, he had previously gone to the market to buy a large box of live worms, along with plenty of larvae. That would serve as food for the frog cub.
This, of course, had drawn fierce protest from Aunt Inoue.
Eventually, after much coaxing, she agreed—on the condition that the worm box never enter the house.
Su Li set the frog cub down on the stone steps and scooped a pile of plump, juicy worms from the box.
The frog cub, clearly starving, looked like its eyes were about to pop.
Su Li piled the worms up. The frog cub swallowed the whole bunch in one breath.
Seeing this, Su Li shook his head and smiled bitterly. "This guy's appetite is worse than before…"
He poured out more worms. After a full meal, the frog cub contentedly grabbed its travel bag and leapt into the sky.
Su Li immediately opened the system panel again.
"Huh? Only a three-day trip this time?"
He was surprised.
According to the system rules, the longer the trip, the richer the souvenirs the frog cub would bring back.
A short three-day journey meant the loot would be average.
A little disappointed, Su Li still adjusted his mood and sat down on the steps.
No matter how small, a mosquito is still meat.
Even a weak hand letter is better than nothing.
He gazed at the pale morning sky, lost in thought.
He had only three Travel Acceleration Coupons left. There didn't seem to be a way to acquire more. If so, then these were the last three.
Better not waste them.
Besides, this trip was only three days. He should wait patiently.
So he waited…
Three minutes.
"Nope. No, no, I can't take this! It's killing me! This is just like waiting for a courier in the human world! Pure torture!!"
"I don't care! I'm using it!!"
Face twitching, Su Li immediately used a Travel Acceleration Coupon.
The remaining time on the system panel dropped to one minute.
He began pacing the courtyard, visibly impatient.
"Ding."
The system pinged. The frog cub had sent back a photo.
Su Li opened it quickly.
In the photo was a gloomy forest. A woman in a brown uniform stood within it, holding a cold, machete-like sword made for cutting vegetables. Her face was beautiful but cold, emotionless, mechanical.
Su Li touched his chin, frowning slightly.
"This image… feels familiar…"
Before he could recall, the air echoed with a croak.
"Cuck!!"
The frog cub landed.
Su Li ran over, happy. As usual, he scooped out some worms from the box.
But this time, the frog cub wasn't hungry—just swallowed two lazily and nudged the package toward Su Li.
Perhaps the trip had been too short. It hadn't even digested the last meal.
No matter. That saved Su Li the time of waiting.
He opened the package.
Though mentally prepared for a less impressive reward, the thrill of opening loot was hard to resist.
Inside, as expected, lay a glowing gem.
Su Li grabbed it instinctively.
A stream of cool energy surged through him.
In his vision, a girl with pink cheeks and a sword stood alone.
Bandits rushed her from all sides, but in a flash of cold steel, they fell one by one, blood splattering her long skirt.
Then the scene shifted.
The same girl, now in delivery uniform, wandered a forest wielding her vegetable sword.
Zombies clawed out from graves, rushing toward her, only to be sliced down in clean motions.
She moved with the precision of a killing machine. Every cut fatal.
She killed. Dug. Buried.
One seamless motion.
Su Li's mind snapped back. He remembered now.
"Sister Bao'er… Feng Baobao!!"
Just then, the gem's power poured knowledge into his mind.
[Awei's Eighteen Styles: Famous physical technique from the world of 'The Outcast']
[Effect: Since moves vary by user, refer to specific training guidance...]
Su Li's mind went blank.
Moments passed before he turned to the frog cub with a complex expression.
"Frog cub… you seriously have taste. Not Eight Strange Skills, not Fenghou Qimen, no… you brought me the sexiest one?"
He wanted to cry but had no tears.
A whole Acceleration Coupon… for this?
His soul was weeping.
After a long sigh, Su Li came to terms with it.
"Screw it. Since I paid the ticket, I'll train it—even if I cry while doing it!!"
His expression cracked. But then, his eyes glimmered.
"Actually… even though it sounds a little lame…"
"Why am I… suddenly kind of excited?!"
Eyes shining, he stood up and prepared to begin.
Just then, the system's mechanical voice chimed:
[Host has completed three travel missions. Novice task complete.]
[Reward: 10 Travel Acceleration Coupons.]
Su Li's eyes lit up.
"Nice! This wave didn't cost me—it profited!!"
The system chimed again.
[Novice stage cleared. System entering full upgrade.]
[System will be temporarily unavailable during upgrade.]
[Upgrade progress: 1%...]
The screen dimmed. A progress bar appeared with a projected time—nearly a month.
Right on time for the captain's exam.
Su Li exhaled. It wasn't a problem. He could wait.
After all, an upgraded system would definitely be even more powerful.
That was what he truly looked forward to.
He smiled with satisfaction. The frog cub had already vanished, likely back in the system warehouse for rest.
Good. That meant one thing—
Time to train hard for a month.
He took a deep breath, refocused, and shifted into a training stance.
The sun slowly rose.
Under the golden light, the young man stood tall, determination etched into every line of his body.
In the quiet courtyard, his voice echoed:
"Awei's Eighteen Styles—First Form! Burst Pulp Lock Throat!"
"Awei's Eighteen Styles—Second Form! Old Khan Pushes Cart!"
"Awei's Eighteen Styles—Third Form…"
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